Fight Club Essay

Explore How Fight Club Uses Visual And Technical Significance to portray Sigmund Freud’s Id, Ego and Super Ego Theory

Throughout this essay I look at how the mise en scene of fight club and the technical significance of this portrays the ideas of Freud’s Id the Ego and the Super Ego theory. I will look at this throughout this text while referencing my research and mentioning how it links with the technical and visual significance of a chosen scene.

During the parking lot scene between Tyler and the Narrator, the characters link to different elements of Freud’s Id, ego and super ego theory. This scene opens up with mid shots of the two characters and incorporates a shot reverse shot to jump between the two while they’re talking, at this time in the scene Tyler is trying to persuade the Narrator to hit him, the Narrator seems adamant to at first but with enough persistence from Tyler’s part he eventually gives in to Tyler’s request.  This interaction between the two characters can link back to Freud’s Id, ego and super ego theory, with Tyler representing the Id through his impulsive and persistent nature throughout the scene, not caring for the consequences of his actions while just seeking out what he wants, this follows the theorized characteristics of the id, “it is the childlike, selfish and hedonistic part of your personality, which focuses on the self ” (Lawton, 2015).  While Tyler represents the Id in this scene, the Narrator represents the ego, being influenced by the Id and not being able to resist the urges it presents to him. This is shown throughout this scene through the Narrator trying to resist Tyler’s request to punch him. Again linking to Freud’s id, ego and super ego theory the Narrator is at first adamant to give in to Tyler’s requests but ends up only delaying Tyler’s wishes as he ends up giving into him much like the Ego is said to always end up giving into the Id, “In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.” (Cherry, 2013). Before giving into Tyler the Narrator is looking around and places his bottle on the floor out of the way, this can visually represent the Ego looking first for ways to reduce the negatives of the Ids desire. Other visual significance in this scene comes from Tyler’s restless nature while being turned down from the Narrator such as jumping on the spot and his sporadic movement, this can signify the Id’s restless nature as it seeks pleasure but is being stopped by the ego in control causing the Id to keep on trying until the ego can not stop it any longer. Although the super ego cannot be portrayed through a character in this scene its presence can still be interpreted through technical elements and mise en scene. At the start of the scene both characters are holding glass bottles, when Tyler comes up with the idea to let the Narrator hit him he puts his bottles down which can be inferred as him leaving the Superego and the traditional ideas of society behind, this can be seen through the mise en scene of the scene as Tyler has his back towards the said bottles I am referring to as the super ego.  This idea is also supported through the Narrator as he at first is holding the bottle while denying Tyler’s requests but before he gives in he puts it to the side of him. This sequence can portray the ego following the super ego an rejecting the Id until eventually he gives in and rejects the ideas of the super ego to the side while he gives in to the Id and its ideas. Finally after all of this Tyler and the Narrator are sat on the grass but only holding one bottle between them rather than the three they started with. This can also represent how after giving into the Id, the super ego is less present as the ego is now giving into the Id and caring less about morality and what society expects of it. This links again to the characters through Tyler and the Narrators friendship growing closer and closer after their fight.

In the Scene where the narrator is describing Tyler’s jobs, Tyler is portrayed as the Id. This scene opens up with the characters describing Tyler’s job at the cinema, in this scene the narrator describes job as boring however Tyler starts splicing the film with pornographic imagery for his own entertainment.  This is characteristic of the Id as although there is a lot of risk in doing this, such as potentially loosing his job, he still does it just to satisfy his need for entertainment, “The id is the oldest and most primitive psychic agency, representing the biological foundations of personality. It is the reservoir of basic instinctual drives, particularly sexual (libidinal) drives, which motivate the organism to seek pleasure.” (Daniel K Lapsley, 2011). This attitude that Tyler has in this scene sets him up as the Id for the majority of the film as he is shown the most clearly here, in not caring for the outcome of his actions and going only for pleasure, this is known as the pleasure principle and is what the Id uses to create desire, “In Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the pleasure principle is the driving force of the id that seeks immediate gratification of all needs, wants and urges. In other words, the pleasure principle strives to fulfill our most basic and primitive urges, including hunger, thirst, anger, and sex. When these needs are not met, the result is a state of anxiety or tension.” (Kendra Cherry, 2019). This portrays Tyler as the Id throughout this film as he is the one urging the narrator on as the Id would do to the Ego.

In another scene the narrator is speaking to his boss, this scene opens up with the Narrator trying to persuade his boss to pay him without working, This soon escalates as the Narrator begins striking himself trying to pass it on as the boss hitting him. The two characters in this scene can represent the ID and the Ego with the narrator representing the animalistic and instinctual Id, not caring about the ramifications of his actions, in this case beating himself up. Whereas the boss represents the Ego with at first resisting the Id’s desire, in this case its wanting to stop working, but is eventually inevitable in stopping him and ends up giving into the Ids desire, which is described in Freud’s theory as the relationship between these two characteristics. "Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same infantile, primal force all throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego that allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable." (Kendra Cherry, 2019).  Throughout this scene the Narrator shows his Id characteristics through the seemingly uncontrolled nature of his actions, such as punching himself repeatedly. This links to my statement of the Ids characteristics, as he does not care for the ramifications of this even though he is physically hurting himself much like how the id does not care about the consequences the actions would have on the host. The boss in this scene uses thematic ideas such as the script to be portrayed as the ego. The script helps portray this idea through at first the boss turning down the Ids advances, however as the Id starts pressuring and fighting to get what he wants, the ego gives in, this is portrayed in the scene with the Narrator walking away from the scene smirking connoting he has won.  "It’s geared towards problem-solving and reality-testing, enabling the person to maintain self-control. However, just like the id, the ego is interested in seeking pleasure, it just wants to do so in a realistic way. It’s not interested in right and wrong, but in how to maximize pleasure and minimise pain without getting into trouble" (Cynthia Vinney, 2019).

In conclusion Fight Club Uses Visual And Technical Significance to portray Sigmund Freud’s Id, Ego and Super Ego Theory. It does this through its portrayal of its characters in each scene with one character usually representing an element of this theory. This links to the narrative point of this film that Tyler is the Narrator, this goes with the idea of the theory that the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego are all apart of a single personality, “Although each part of the personality comprises unique features, they interact to form a whole, and each part makes a relative contribution to an individual's behaviour.”(Saul McLeod, 2019) Therefore this supports my statement that the film uses technical and visual significance to portray this theory as it uses its thematic narrative to portray the key ideas of this theory, as I have talked about during this essay.

Reference list

Fincher, D., (1999) Fight Club

Lawton, J-M., (2015) AQA A-Level Psychology 2

Cherry, K.,(2013) The Id, Ego and Superego

Cherry, K., (2019) Freud's ID, Ego and Super Ego [Online]

Available from:

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951

Vinney, C., (2019) Freud: Id, Ego, and Superego Explained [Online]

Available from:

https://www.thoughtco.com/id-ego-and-superego-4582342

McLeod, S., (2019) Id, Ego and Superego [Online]

Available from:

https://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html

Lapsley, D, Stey P (2011) Encyclopaedia of Human Behaviour. Elsevier.

Cherry, K., (2019) How Freud's Pleasure Principle Works [Online]

Available From:

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-pleasure-principle-2795472

Laura Mulvey: Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey: Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey's theory on the male gaze states that film is constructed for the pleasure of the male audience with elements of film such as the sexualisation of characters only conforming to the heterosexual male, "In such representations, ‘Woman’ is defined solely in terms of sexuality, as an object of desire, in relation to, or as a foil for, ‘Man’." (Shohini Chaudhuri, 2006). This theory states that the camera portrays a males point of view and forces audiences to view it in that way regardless of gender or sexuality.

Some of the technical elements that support this theory are mid/close up shots of women typically shot over the shoulder of the male character, panning and fixated shots on the female body and shots with men observing women passively. These techniques use the camera to promote the female body in an objectifying way, especially through shots only including the female body. This links back to the idea that the camera is the males point of view and that the women are no more than an object for entertainment in these shots with the shots being devoted to only their bodies and not their performance as actresses.

In the Film "Transformers" Mulvey's male gaze theory can be seen through multiple parts of the film, The most prominent example of this can be in the scene where Megan Fox is looking at the cars engine.  This scene opens up with Megan fox opening the bonnet of the car, after opening the bonnet up, Megan Fox keeps holding the bonnet in the air, in doing this exposing her body to the camera. While Megan Fox is in this position the camera follows Shia Leboeuf's character until he gets to the front of the car, from here the camera pans around focusing on Megan Fox's body while Shia's character is clearly shown looking. This is an example of Mulvey's Male Gaze theory through the camera following the camera following the perspective of the male protagonist as he observes Megan Fox's character, In following the perspective of the male protagonist it forces the audience to view the scene from the point of view of him, in doing this it portrays Megan Fox's character and body as an element of desire for the audience and the protagonist.

Reference List

Shohini Chaudhuri ., (2006) Feminist Film Theorists

Michael Bay., (2007) Transformers
Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6L3Ef1JCC8

Sigmund Freud: ID, Ego and Super Ego

Freud Id, Ego and Superego. (Kendra Cherry, 2019)

  

Sigmund Freud: ID, Ego and Super Ego

Freud's theory on ID, Ego and Super Ego tries to explain the different elements of the human personality through 3 main elements, the ID, the Ego and the Super Ego. "Each component not only adds its own unique contribution to personality, but all three elements interact in ways that have a powerful influence on each individual. Each of these three elements of personality emerges at different points in life."(Kendra Cherry, 2019).

The ID is the only element that is present from birth and is the most instinctual, this element seeks for pleasure without thought for any consequences, this is what babies rely on and it is not until they grow that they begin to understand their actions. It stays present throughout life but due to the other elements of Freud's theory is controlled and managed. "Although people eventually learn to control the id, this part of personality remains the same infantile, primal force all throughout life. It is the development of the ego and the superego that allows people to control the id's basic instincts and act in ways that are both realistic and socially acceptable." (Kendra Cherry, 2019).

The Ego is the second element of Freud's theory that is based off of the ID, the purpose of this element is to keep the Id in check and to make sure that the needs of the id are met but kept towards a socially expectable standard "It’s geared towards problem-solving and reality-testing, enabling the person to maintain self-control. However, just like the id, the ego is interested in seeking pleasure, it just wants to do so in a realistic way. It’s not interested in right and wrong, but in how to maximize pleasure and minimise pain without getting into trouble" (Cynthia Vinney, 2019)

The Superego is the third element of Freud's theory and it is based off of achieving social 'Perfection' and trying to meet society needs. The Superego tries to reject all the completely negative thoughts of the Id such as overly sexual or violent ideas. It is suggested that the Superego is created based off of the early parenting of the child, with the superego following the ideas presented by the parents. "In this way the Superego acts like an inner parent, meaning that the desired behavior is being manifested in the child’s normal behavior and the bans are being respected and understood without the need of the parents telling the child what to do." (Martin, 2019)

Scene Analysis

During the parking lot scene between Tyler and the Narrator, the characters link to different elements of Freud’s Id, ego and super ego theory. This scene opens up with mid shots of the two characters and incorporates a shot reverse shot to jump between the two while they’re talking, at this time in the scene Tyler is trying to persuade the Narrator to hit him, the Narrator seems adamant to at first but with enough persistence from Tyler’s part he eventually gives in to Tyler’s request.  This interaction between the two characters can link back to Freud’s Id, ego and super ego theory, with Tyler representing the Id through his impulsive and persistent nature throughout the scene, not caring for the consequences of his actions while just seeking out what he wants, this follows the theorized characteristics of the id, “it is the childlike, selfish and hedonistic part of your personality, which focuses on the self ” (Lawton, 2015).  While Tyler represents the Id in this scene, the Narrator represents the ego, being influenced by the Id and not being able to resist the urges it presents to him. This is shown throughout this scene through the Narrator trying to resist Tyler’s request to punch him. Again linking to Freud’s id, ego and super ego theory the Narrator is at first adamant to give in to Tyler’s requests but ends up only delaying Tyler’s wishes as he ends up giving into him much like the Ego is said to always end up giving into the Id, “In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.” (Cherry, 2013). Before giving into Tyler the Narrator is looking around and places his bottle on the floor out of the way, this can visually represent the Ego looking first for ways to reduce the negatives of the Ids desire. Other visual significance in this scene comes from Tyler’s restless nature while being turned down from the Narrator such as jumping on the spot and his sporadic movement, this can signify the Id’s restless nature as it seeks pleasure but is being stopped by the ego in control causing the Id to keep on trying until the ego can not stop it any longer. Although the super ego cannot be portrayed through a character in this scene its presence can still be interpreted through technical elements and mise en scene. At the start of the scene both characters are holding glass bottles, when Tyler comes up with the idea to let the Narrator hit him he puts his bottles down which can be inferred as him leaving the Superego and the traditional ideas of society behind, this can be seen through the mise en scene of the scene as Tyler has his back towards the said bottles I am referring to as the super ego.  This idea is also supported through the Narrator as he at first is holding the bottle while denying Tyler’s requests but before he gives in he puts it to the side of him. This sequence can portray the ego following the super ego an rejecting the Id until eventually he gives in and rejects the ideas of the super ego to the side while he gives in to the Id and its ideas. Finally after all of this Tyler and the Narrator are sat on the grass but only holding one bottle between them rather than the three they started with. This can also represent how after giving into the Id, the super ego is less present as the ego is now giving into the Id and caring less about morality and what society expects of it. This links again to the characters through Tyler and the Narrators friendship growing closer and closer after their fight.   
 

Reference List
Cherry, K., (2019) Freud's ID, Ego and Super Ego [Online]
Available from:
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951

Vinney, C., (2019) Freud: Id, Ego, and Superego Explained [Online]
Available from:
https://www.thoughtco.com/id-ego-and-superego-4582342

Martin., (2019) Understanding Siegmund Freud’s Id, Ego and Superego [Online]
Available from:
https://www.cleverism.com/understanding-siegmund-freuds-id-ego-and-superego/

Fincher, D., (1999) Fight club

MovieClips (2015) "Fight Club (1/5) Movie CLIP - I Want You to Hit Me (1999) HD" [Online]
Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR5Jp_ag2M8

Health and Safety

Health and Safety
When filming health and safety is key in creating a safe and efficient working environment, not only can accidents caused by poor health and safety be life-threatening but also hinder production and can lead to lawsuits. The senior staff is usually held responsible for any accidents so it will usually be them that insist on a strict health and safety rules however everyone on set should set out to make the workspace safe, "The line of responsibility runs from the Producer to the Production Manager and 1st Assistant Director and finally on to all crew members who have a duty of care which is recognized by law. If someone can see the potential for an accident and does nothing to try to prevent it, they can be held responsible in some way, probably along with their senior colleagues." (Moving Image Education 2019).

"'Hazard' refers to the potential for harm. while 'Risk' is the chance of that harm actually happening. Though some hazards might seem very obvious, people might still need to have them pointed out." (Moving Image Education2019). When first setting up a filming set, whether a static location (like a studio) or a portable one (like an outdoor shooting location) it is important to run a 3 step risk assessment: Identifying all risks, evaluate the risks, and then controlling the risk. Recording this process will make it clearer for your members of staff to identify risks and to understand the set in place procedure on how to avoid them. Onset communication is key to avoiding injury, weather its to tell a crew member of a group of wires on the floor or to tell them of a damaged piece of set that could cause harm.

Dolly Track in use. (Jason Hellerman 2019)

Some examples of common hazards that can occur on set are: tripping hazards, lifting hazards, and working from extreme heights. Another key risk that is common on film sets is moving camera shots where a cameraman is moving with the camera, during this process the cameraman could trip as they wouldn't be looking where they are going and could cause serious damage to themselves and the equipment, "When a camera operator or cast member is walking during a shot, make sure they are comfortable with their route and there is nothing that could cause problems (a camera operator who needs to walk backward for a shot should have an assistant to guide them and/or check their route)" (Moving Image Education 2019). An example of a way this could be avoided or at least on how to reduce the risk of this is through a dolly track, this track will allow the camera to move in these shots without risk of the cameraman hurting themselves, setting up a clear track that the camera can move on smoothly without bumping into anything/anyone.



Reference List
Moving Image Education ., (2019) Health and Safety [Online]
Available from:
https://movingimageeducation.org/create-films/production/the-production-department/health-and-safety

Jason Hellerman .,(2019) What is a dolly shot [Online]
Available from:
https://nofilmschool.com/what-is-a-dolly-shot

New Wave Film

Brief
For my short film I will be implementing elements of New Wave Cinema using the knowledge I have learnt so far while also researching new techniques. I will take a lot of techniques from American, French and British New Wave. My new wave film will be based on the contrasting differences between nature and mankind with the short film cutting between shots of industrialisation and busy man made areas like main roads or retail, while also cutting back to the quieter shots of wildlife and nature. Some elements of new wave films that will be in my short film will be incoherent editing, with shots being cut at random times or times that would disrupt the natural flow of shot before, for example, if i have a shot of a deer running it might be interrupted mid shot with another of a busy road. "Non-linear and fragmented editing became another major and exciting contribution. For decades, each Shot A led logically into Shot B, leaving no gaps in the information to keep the audience from being confused. Now, in these French films, logic became a secondary concern. "Alyssa Maio(2015). Another element of new wave cinema that i will include into my short film will be these of a hand held camera and the lack of a tripod, throughout most of my film i won't be using a tripod to film as i am going to have to be moving around a lot, this will mimic a lot of French new wave films that incorporated this technique into their production. "The smaller, lightweight cameras were often "freed" from the tripod and handheld, giving a new life and energy to their films." Alyssa Maio(2015).

The Parallels of Nature 

Evaluation

During the production process of this film I struggled to get out and shoot footage of busy life so I improvised and used footage that was easier to gather around the college area. In keeping in line with the new wave theme I incorporated many techniques such as the shaky hand held camera, This was used as i was constantly on the move when filming the wildlife and i decided not to use a warp stabiliser as to keep the new wave element of the technique. The film shows the parallels between the animal world and human world with shots mimicking each other as i have one shot of people running then it cuts to a shot of the animals running.

Reference

Alyssa Maio.,(2015) What is French New Wave? Background and Revolutionary Techniques[Online]

Available from:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-french-new-wave/

American New Wave Cinema Essay

A contextual study of American New Wave Cinema

Throughout this unit I studied the American new wave cinema movement from 1967 to 1979 where America was facing many social issues that affected how films were produced and the ideas that were conveyed within them. An example of a social issue that was being conveyed at the time in cinema was the Vietnam War (1 Nov 1955 – 30 Apr 1975). Due to its controversy within the American public this topic appears in a lot of new wave cinema as a lot of independent directors used their movies to convey their thoughts on the topic. “Over the course of the 1960s the counter culture, youth activism, and civil rights movements generated widespread rejection of standard Hollywood fare at the time. For decades there had been standards, censorship, and deeply held beliefs about what mainstream American film had to look like.” (Jordan 2018).  Another element of American new wave cinema is its tendency to fixate on character action and scenes with intense thematic resonance where dialogue frequently feels unnecessary, and gives way to scenes of violence or other typical conventions of mainstream cinema. Throughout this essay I will be looking at my chosen films and identifying where these elements are present with its effect it has on cinema and its connection to the time it is set.

The first film I looked at when studying this unit was Arthur Penns Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and when researching this film I looked at what made this an example of American new wave and how this differed from standard cinema at the time, “The film showed blood and gore explicitly and the audiences enjoyed each violent scene. However, despite such strides in portraying the lives of violent criminals realistically, the film uses the subtleties of the French New Wave liberally and the connection between the two movements are palpable.” (Narelle 2017). An element of New Wave Cinema that appears throughout this film is its over the top use of violence (At least compared to the time of the release) with the final scene of the film being an example of this in which both characters are gunned down in clear view of the audience. In this scene a lot of quick cuts are used in order to build pace before any violence actually happens, when the gun fire actually begins the shots cut from Bonnie being shot and Clyde being shot with both showing clear pain during the scene and blood being easily visible from their wounds, this would have been very ground breaking for the time as not much violence would be shown in cinema before hand. “If the New Wave was a case of the French critics deconstructing the methods and iconography of American cinema in order to fashion something new and exciting, 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde was arguably the moment where these forward-thinking revisions truly found their way back to the States. Despite its obvious European predecessors, Penn’s rural tale of Depression-era carnage and courtship feels distinctly, passionately American, and its influence can be felt not just in the bold era of home grown cinema that followed but also in more recent purveyors of artful savagery.” (David Pountain 2017).

Another example of how Bonnie and Clyde subverted mainstream cinema and indulged new wave cinema techniques was through the sexualisation of its characters. Before this film nudity and sexual topics where not really included in mainstream cinema. In the opening scene Bonnie is shown naked, this subverts standard cinema at the time because this is our first introduction to the character and it establishes the directors stance on standard values in Hollywood cinema, with him not being afraid go against the norm, telling this to the audience within the first few minutes of the film. Nudity is also used as a hidden meaning throughout this film, “Here, sexuality is used as a tool to express the sense of escapism achieved through crime, and as a means in itself to perforate the mundane.” (Joel S. Kempson 2015).  This is apparent through Bonnie’s attraction to Clyde in the first place because of the boredom she shows before meeting him for example, in the opening scene where she is shown banging on the bed in frustration with her normal life. “The opening gives a sense of Bonnies imprisoned sensuality and certainly Bonnies abrupt movements indicate frustration, a feeling of being trapped” (Robert Kolker 2000).  Therefore the link between sexuality and freedom in this film is portrayed through Bonnies character and how she has more sex with Clyde and falls deeper in love with him, the more they go against society and commit these crimes, thus linking back to my comment of sexuality linking to escapism within this film as she is escaping from society and reality the deeper she gets in this film. This is a strong element of new wave cinema as not only is a high amount of sexuality present in this film (which goes against mainstream Hollywood at the time) but it also contains deeper social messages that new wave films like to incorporate.

Throughout this unit, one of the films I have studied was Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver”. In this film Robert De Niro’s character, Travis Bickle is a Vietnam War veteran who is struggling to adjust back into normal life. During the opening scene Travis walks into the taxi rank enquiring about a job, Travis and the owner of the business then get into a conversation throughout the interview. This is an element of American New Wave Cinema through the unnecessary feel of this dialogue as if the characters were having a conversation in real life. During this conversation exposition about our protagonist is revealed such as his struggle with insomnia and also his previous military record. In implementing this information through casual dialogue it makes the exposition seem less forced and instead let the passing of key plot points seem natural. The brief mentioning of these two topics can link to the social contexts of the time when soldiers where first coming home from Vietnam but were struggling to adjust back to society while also battling mental health issues that were usually taboo or just not recognised at the time such as the insomnia that he mentions or other mental health issues such as PTSD that affected a lot of soldiers that returned home after the war. Therefore in subtly mentioning these topics Scorsese is commenting on the social issues that were troubling the time such as the lack of help for returning soldiers and the ignorance of their mental health through only having the characters mention these topics in passing mention, rather than speaking about it in detail that maybe it should deserve. This is an element of new wave cinema through Scorsese using his film to comment on the social issues in a platform that will reach a lot of people.

In another scene in Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle is talking to himself in a mirror; this scene stands out more than others in the film due to the repetitive nature of the shots and his conversation with himself. It is in this scene where the audience gets another glimpse at Bickles psyche “The scene conveys many things: his anger at the world, his reckless abandon, his sense of self-importance, and deep down, an anger at himself he can’t consciously reveal. Soon enough, the self-esteem boasting self-refrains begin to seem like the ravings of a madman, and then bitter, brittle cries for help from someone who only conceptualizes help through the masculine, violent male lens.” (The Long Take 2019), while in the process incorporating new wave techniques such as the repetition of the shots, this new wave technique is used here to link to Bickles mental state with the text being from his perspective and this lapse in narrative could be an example of how he is struggling to cope since the Vietnam war, as mentioned in my previous paragraph. Therefore in this scene Scorsese uses the new wave technique of repeating shots while also briefly breaking the continuity of the film through the lapse of narrative, to help convey his messages of mental health and the mistreatment of returning soldiers from Vietnam as Bickle in this film is shown to be struggling to readjust back to normal life but is never offered any help.

Another film I studied throughout this unit was Apocalypse Now (Francis Coppola), which is set during the Vietnam War. In the opening scene of the film, the protagonist Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) talking about his struggle to adjust back to normal life. In this scene the Captain is performing a dance routine we see throughout the film from characters with questionable sanity such as the natives in the third act. This can link to the characters mental state in this scene, as this is set after the final act, with him mimicking those characters actions. This can link to the real world in which soldiers who returned from the war struggled to readjust with society with mental health issues such as PTSD (as mentioned in my earlier paragraph on taxi driver), this was a big talking point when it came towards American New Wave cinema as people like these new wave directors believed these issues weren’t being spoken about in society enough so used their films to speak out about the topic. Therefore through dropping subtle hints about the protagonist’s mental health the director is allowing the audience to see the affect that the war had on its soldiers in a new wave style and by making the soldiers mental health a talking point in cinema.

Another example of how Apocalypse Now is an example of an American New Wave film is through its use of subtle dialogue and inconsequential conversations. For example throughout the first act the topic of surfing comes into play multiple times, with characters talking about it during times it seems highly irrelevant such as in the helicopter raid on the Vietnamese town. This is an example of American New Wave Cinema through characters talking and having normal conversations that doesn’t affect the plot in any way that is seen in other American New Wave films and also in French New Wave too. This makes the characters seem more human as they are talking in a matter that mimics the real world and how people would speak in real life, with not every conversation requiring purpose and in the films case not forwarding the plot in any way. Therefore in incorporating this into the film, the director gives a sense of real life to the film with these characters expressing themselves outside of the plot, this new wave element of incorporating real life into the text helps the director capture the severity of the film itself and how this happened to real people.

In conclusion these films I have studied have all incorporated new wave techniques that went against standard movie making techniques at the time, but they also incorporated social messages into these techniques such as in taxi driver with the repetition or the unnecessary dialogue in Apocalypse now, “American New Wave films tend to fixate on character action and scenes with intense thematic resonance. Dialogue frequently feels unnecessary, and gives way to scenes of violence and high speed pursuits” (Jordan 2018).  This helped challenge social issues at the time through creating a platform for the people to speak in which before no one really spoke out about issues such as the aftermath of the Vietnam War. "These films were centred on complex themes with morally ambiguous messages, reflecting the nonconforming generation disillusioned by Vietnam." (Filmmakers Handbook, 2019).

Reference List

Arthur Penn (1967) Bonnie and Clyde

Martin Scorsese  (1976) Taxi Driver

Francis Ford Coppola (1979) Apocalypse Now

Jordan, S., (2018) The New Perspectives in the American new wave [Online]

Available from:

https://facets.org/blog/exclusive/lists/essentials/the-new-perspectives-in-the-american-new-wave/

Narelle., (2017) Bonnie and Clyde – The French New Wave in Hollywood

[Online]

Available from:

https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/narelle001/bonnie-and-clyde-the-french-new-wave-in-hollywood/

David Pount., (2017) How Bonnie and Clyde brought the French New Wave to Hollywood

[Online]

Available from:

https://lwlies.com/articles/bonnie-and-clyde-french-new-wave-hollywood/

Joel S. Kempson., (2015) Living with Evil: Crime and sexuality in Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown

[Online]

Available from:

http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1011/living-with-evil-crime-and-sexuality-in-bonnie-and-clyde-and-chinatown

Robert Kolker,. (2000) A cinema of loneliness

The Long Take (2019) American New Wave: Taxi Driver

[Online]

Available from:

https://thelongtake.net/2014/10/10/american-new-wave-taxi-driver/

Jordan, S., (2018) The New Perspectives in the American new wave [Online]

Available from:

https://facets.org/blog/exclusive/lists/essentials/the-new-perspectives-in-the-american-new-wave/

Filmmakers Handbook (2019)  [Online]

Available from:

http://screenprism.com/insights/article/the-filmmakers-handbook-what-is-the-new-hollywood-movement

4 Hour Challenges

Unusual Perspective

In this short film we were tasked with making a short film exploring a different perspective of what would normally be seen, in knowing this I based my film around a persons day to day life of going and sitting at a bench,  when shooting this I decided to follow the protagonist throughout the film using different angles and distances that could be considered unique for this sort of movement, such as extremely long shots from a weird angle or close up shots of the protagonists feet while walking. In editing this short film I learned how to create "bins" in premiere pro and learnt the importance of renaming and organising clips as it makes the editing process a lot simpler, especially if you are coming back and continuing with the edit at a later date, helping you know what shots are what and whether the clip is particularly useful or not.

Wii Music Short Film (Illusions)

For this short film we were tasked with creating a short film that involved visual illusions with the camera. With this in mind we set out to use jump cuts and a stiff camera position to create the illusion of teleportation, we did this to the Wii music to help set a pace and create a light hearted feel to the film. In doing this I learnt how to closely edit a set of clips to help match the audio it is going with while making sure everything seemed coherent. 

About You

In this 4 hour editing task we had to edit clips we had found online to a song set to us at the start of the task,  in doing this we had to find clips that matched the setting and pace of the music video and made sure we edited them inline with the music, making sure that what we saw in the clips matched the pace and beat of the music. Throughout this task I improved upon my previously mentioned skills of editing clips to help match an piece of music making sure both fit well together and the final piece seems coherent.